Zuko gets drunk
by annoyed-enthusiast
Summary: Zuko has the evening off and gets drunk in a dingy tavern, much to the amusement of the few unfortunate souls who realise who he is.


**Zuko has the evening off and gets drunk in a dingy tavern, much to the amusement of the few unfortunate souls who realise who he is.**

The evening was chilly in the fire nation capitol, and most people had small lit fires burning inside for comfort. The same went for a moderately filled tavern, where people enjoyed a relaxing evening. Ever since the war had ended about a month ago the common people had been reunited with their loved ones, although rebellions shook the entire nation.

The door opened and a hooded figure stepped in and tried to discreetly walk up to the bar disk. A few heads turned and glanced in his direction, but few kept looking. The ones who did were mostly interested in the dual dao swords that hung on his back. Discretion was not uncommon in the fire nation, so they left him alone. The man sat down at the end of the bar and the attendant walked over to him.

"What can I get you?" he asked casually. The stranger didn't look up as he said "Something strong, preferably."

The raspy voice didn't belong to an adult, he noticed suspiciously. His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look of the young man.

"And just how old are you, boy? Don't exactly seem eighteen to me."

"I'm old enough." He answered without hesitation, but he answered just a little bit too quickly, and his voice was a little bit too high.

"Don't try to fool me. Let's try again, shall we. How old are you?"

"It's none of your business, just give me a drink." He said impatiently with a hint of anger.

"I could lose my job over this, so it is my business."

"I'll pay you double if you keep your mouth shut." The teenager tried to bribe him. Who did he think he was, anyways?

"How about this; you tell me your actual age and I'll consider giving you something lighter."

The teen considered his options. He could agree to the bargain, or he could go elsewhere, or he could take his hood off and get a drink and ruin his evening with publicity. Or he could go home, except that he wanted to enjoy his night off, so it wasn't really an option.

"I'll be seventeen in three weeks." He said with a sigh. "But I've kind of earned a drink, I think. This is my first night off for a month."

The bartender nodded and started to mix up some juice with a small amount of alcohol, putting it down in front of the teen.

"So what do you do?" he asked curiously.

The teen took a drink and smacked his lips. "I'll tell you if you promise not to raise your voice or cause a scene. If you do I'm out of here before you can blink, understand?" the voice was firm and commanding, and yet it was clear that the boy wasn't sure if it was a good idea to reveal himself.

The bartender's eyebrows furrowed in consideration before he agreed out of curiosity. He lifted the edge of the hood slightly. He didn't get more than four seconds before it fell down again, but it was more than enough to recognise the scarred face of the Fire Lord. He had let his shaggy hair down and was smirking slightly.

The bartender couldn't help but stare in shock, before he remembered himself and kept his head down, very humbled.

"Not who you expected, was it?" Zuko asked humorously.

"N-no my lord, I-"

"Don't cause a scene." He interrupted flatly.

The man blinked a few times and seemed to remember himself. A few forced calming breaths later and he couldn't help but ask "So what brought you downtown from the palace, then?"

"I already told you. It's my night off. Scheduled it myself and everything."

"Yes but, I mean, you're not who you'd… expect… here." The man seemed to work himself up again as a new customer called on his attention.

"Oy, are you going to chat all night? Some of us want something to drink!" the rude man half shouted. He bartender looked conflicted and Zuko nodded in the customer's direction, urging him to attend to him.

"I'm coming." The bartender sighed as he stiffly walked over and took the order.

"What's up with mister gloomy over there, you seemed kind of nervous. He threaten you or something?" the man asked, intrigued and mistrustful.

"He's an interesting character is all." He whipped up a glass of rum and put it down in front of him.

"I think I'll talk to him, then. See what he's about." The man proceeded to walk over to Zuko and sit down. The Fire Lord himself was currently sipping on his drink, watching the stranger sit down.

"Can I help you?" he asked, partially wondering if his cover had slipped, and partially curious as to the man's presence.

"Just wondering if you'd like to join me for a drink. Not that weak stuff you're drinking, but a real strong drink."

"And what would I get out of it?"

"A conversation and a few laughs perhaps." The man laughed at himself and downed his glass. "Can I have two more of these?" he asked the bartender "One for me and one for my friend here."

Zuko looked vaguely annoyed but he kept still. He had come down for a drink anyway, and who was he to refuse when he was being offered. And the man might prove to be interesting.

The bartender put down two glasses of the amber liquid. He looked a bit conflicted about the whole situation, but left them alone. He figured the Fire Lord could probably hold his own, anyway.

"Thanks." Said Zuko and took a swig. He had barely registered the taste before he coughed loudly and made a face. He hadn't counted on the alcohol to be so strong. The man slapped him on his back and laughed at him. The bartender smiled slightly at the situation.

"First drink, eh?"

"Something like that."

"I'm Quon, by the way" he said with a friendly voice "Came back from Ba Sing Se a week ago, when the order of retreat came. It's nice to be back."

Zuko nodded in agreement and took a small sip of the strong liquid. "How did it look when you left? Ba Sing Se, I mean."

Curiosity gleamed form Quon's eyes at the question. He had expected something about the army or about family, or even something about the stranger himself. "What's it to you what it looks like, we gave it up. It's the earth kingdom's problem now." He said sourly.

"It is my problem." Zuko said quietly. "The fire nation had it under its command for months, and I need to know what state it is in."

"Are you some earth kingdom scum or something?" the man asked angrily. "Why are you-"

Zuko conjured a small flame from the palm of his hand. "I'm fire nation, alright." He shrugged as the flame died out and spoke again. "I lived there for a while, as a refugee. I'm just curious."

Quon visibly relaxed and started to tell him about the state of Ba Sing Se. Apparently the biggest change in the lower ring was that the Dai Li had been exchanged for Firebenders, and some of the rules had changed, such as curfew. A restriction had been put on press release and all the prints in the lower ring had been shut down. Otherwise it was the same poverty stricken place as ever.

When the fire nation left King Bumi took the position as ruler and started to straighten things out a bit. Zuko knew this, of course, but he encouraged Quon to speak more about it. Chances were that the people he communicated with withheld information or intentionally told him the wrong one. This was just a confirmation, really.

"The only changes were in the top of the ladder, really." He finished his tale.

"That sucks." Zuko admitted with a sigh. "I really don't get why they don't just knock down those stupid walls and stop the segregation. People are miserable there."

They sat quietly for a moment before Quon broke the silence. "You said you were a refugee…" he trailed off, hoping Zuko would indulge and tell him.

He took a deep breath and said "I got banished about three years ago. Had a price on my head, dead or alive."

"How much?"

"Ten thousand gold pieces, last time I looked. On one of my posters, anyway. My other identity was worth three thousand. Not anymore, obviously, since I'm home again."

Quon whistled a quietly, apparently impressed.

"And now you're back."

"And now I'm back."

They went back to their drinks, both in heavy thoughts. Zuko thought about his banishment and Quon wondered who exactly this boy was.

As the time passed the Fire Lord ordered another couple of drinks and they talked about the various minor rebellions all over the country. Apparently many were dedicated to Ozai and Azula's kind of regime and were still in favour of the war. Many others were content with having their families together again and hoped that the fragile peace would last.

The talk strayed from rebellions to their experiences from the earth kingdom, and as they got drunker they also got louder, along with all the other drunk people. They talked about the girls in Ba Sing se and Zuko let slip he had went on a date with an earth kingdom peasant named Jin. They talked about village after village, about the poverty and the war, and then they went back to girls.

"…and then I met this bounty hunter, Jun, and she had this huuuuge shirshu, and she was so intimidating and she teased me and called my uncle a "creepy grandpa"."

"What, the shirshu did?"

"Nonono, the girl, Jun!"

"Man, that sounds like some girl, huh?"

"Yeah, she's terrifying…"

The door to the tavern slammed open and a small girl strode in and walked straight up to the drunken pair.

"Hey Sparky." She said angrily and punched him in the shoulder. "Do you have any idea how long we have been looking for you?"

Zuko rubbed his shoulder and winched a bit. "I told you I was going out for a bit, Toph." He said defiantly.

By now almost everyone had stopped talking and were looking at the altercation. Zuko looked a bit hunched and embarrassed, but it was hard to tell without seeing his face. Quon snickered with glee at his situation. "Are you out after your curfew, buddy?"

"Yes he is." Said Toph and glared at Zuko.

"But I was just-"

"Save it for Katara, she's not happy with you." She grabbed the front of his robe and pulled him close to her face and sniffed disapprovingly. "Especially since you've been drinking."

"Can't you just not tell her?" he pleaded as she let go of his clothes and he got back in his chair. The hood slipped off and Zuko desperately tried to put it back on, but it was too late. Everybody had seen who he was. Toph sat down beside him and started laughing. The whispers spread around the tavern as they realised they were all in the presence of the Fire Lord himself, who was drunk and got fooled by a twelve year old girl.

"Ahaha I really got you there." She clutched her stomach and laughed harder. "You're still terrified of her!"

"Why do you have to be so public with everything Toph, I'm trying to relax a bit, and now they're all staring at me again." Zuko said, sounding a bit upset with her. The people were equally embarrassed and couldn't quite decide whether to look away or stare at them indefinitely.

"Well excuuuuuse me, Sparky." She said sarcastically. "I didn't know you were going out incognito, it's not like you said "_Hey Toph, I'm gonna sneak out and get drunk in a dingy bar, without telling anyone where I am, and without bringing any guards with me."_ Which is a dumb ass idea, by the way."

"Keep it down!" he shushed loudly and looked around suspiciously. Toph rolled her eyes at his antics. Hushed whispers raised the noise level of the tavern as they disbelievingly commented on the situation.

"Let's go home, tough guy. I bet you can't even defend yourself in that state."

"I can too!" he said and stood up abruptly. He swayed a little and leaned on the counter for support. "See, I'm fine."

"Zuko, you can barely stand." She said disapprovingly and made him lean on her shoulder as she promptly dragged him towards the door. "Please excuse the Fire Lord, he has obviously had too much to drink. It would seem he got a bit carried away with his free evening." Said Toph loudly to the rest of the tavern, confirming what they already suspected.

"See you some other time Quon!" he grinned and waved to the dumbfounded soldier who just realised he had been drinking with the Fire Lord for the past few hours.

"Uuh, yeah." He replied nervously.

Zuko and Toph disappeared from the tavern and began making their way back to the palace. It was a very slow walk due to Zuko's inebriated state and sloppy movements. Toph walked quietly as Zuko babbled incoherently about girls and Ba Sing Se and how Quon's wife was pregnant and how happy they were to be together again. Toph replied quietly at the right times and tried to figure the easiest way to both shut him up and get him back to the palace.

After twenty minutes of walking they ran into Sokka and Suki, who were looking for Zuko while appreciating the fire nation capitol during the night.

"You found him!" Sokka exclaimed and walked right up to them. "Is he alright? He seems kinda…"

"Never been better, Sokka." Zuko answered although the question wasn't directed to him. "You should come with me sometime, I mean you're almost of age. It's not like I can drag Toph or Aang along, they're like, twelve. And you are sixteen, which is almost seventeen, and seventeen is almost eighteen so we can totally get drinks. And Katara can't come she would kill me for suggesting it and she'll kill me for tonight and-"

"Zuko, are you drunk?" Sokka interrupted him in disbelief. Zuko smiled foolishly at him as he had an ill kept secret.

"No." He said sheepishly and reconsidered what he had just said. His face changed into a frown as he continued speaking. "Maybe I might be a little tipsy. A little."

"He's completely sloshed, Sokka. He can't even walk by himself." said Toph and wriggled out from under Zuko's arm. Zuko promptly tried to keep what little balance he had and staggered to the left as he looked to his right, as if trying to compensate for a delayed reaction. He stumbled slightly but managed to stand up.

"I am perfectly capable of walking." He said proudly as though as he had managed something very important.

"And can you take out me and Azula with only your swords, in less than five minutes, as you told me about ten minutes ago?"

"Psssh, of course I can! I'm the Fire Lord, I can do _anything_!" he boasted excitedly as he reached for his swords. He promptly fell down and they all laughed at him. "Oh."

"This is hilarious. Can we tell him to do stuff and watch him fail?" snickered Sokka as Zuko failed to stand up again.

"I'm not a failure." Mumbled Zuko and tried again. And again.

"Come on Zuko, we have to get you home." Suki said and promptly hoisted the fallen Fire Lord over her shoulder and started walking towards the palace. He tried to protest but eventually gave in. He didn't exactly fight it either. He wriggled around and said he could walk, which was ignored by the trio.

Eventually they got to the palace and were let in by the baffled guards, who had never seen the Fire Lord so out of it. Even though he was new to the position, many of the guards had known the Prince as he grew up. They were used to a professional young man who managed to command the respect of the other nations. The happily grinning, drunk Fire Lord were not exactly the norm around the palace, but as they tried not to grin as he complimented them on the _shininess_ of the armour they figured that maybe he needed to unwind sometimes too.


End file.
